


Beloved

by Anxiety_Elemental



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dragons, F/F, M/M, Mutual Pining, Near Death Experiences, Post-Recall, Shapeshifting, let mercy say fuck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-27
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-10-17 09:05:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17557430
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anxiety_Elemental/pseuds/Anxiety_Elemental
Summary: The Shimadas had an ancient pact with the dragon spirits, gaining their power and wisdom. When Genji’s dragon intervenes to save McCree’s life he doesn’t know why, or what it could mean.





	1. Scales

**Author's Note:**

> heck
> 
> This is entirely self-indulgent nonsense but what else is fic for.
> 
> This takes ideas from and is in continuity with a previous fic of mine, [Survive](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17329889) , but it’s not necessary to read that first as the important points will be summarized here.
> 
> As far as warnings go there's some violence, somebody almost dies, and there's some mild body dysmorphia.

Jesse McCree is about to die.

 

It’s almost exactly how he expected to die too. He figured he’d bleed out in a filthy ditch somewhere, not on the dusty floor of a warehouse, but it’s close enough. Lasted longer then he thought he would too, almost saw his forties, how about that. He’d hoped to go out during a heroic last stand, but this was always the more likely scenario. He only wishes he would’ve died outside, and not under a metal roof. Would’ve been nice to go looking up at the sky.

 

It’s getting harder to breathe, throat and chest full of fluid, blood in his mouth. He almost certainly got a bullet in a lung, pain biting into him with every shallow breath. He still has one hand wrapped weakly around Peacekeeper’s grip, not that he could even lift his gun in his state. It gives him a small satisfaction to know he managed to kill all of them first, their bodies laying not far from his. Least he got to take the Talon bastards with him.

 

It’s getting harder to see, his vision going dark around the edges, but he knows that silhouette, that glowing shade of green. Genji kneels down, and he sees a brief flash of white, a blade, and doesn’t think.

 

A different flash, green this time, and it takes a shape. Jesse’s brain barely register’s “dragon”.

 

The pain is receding. It’s probably time.

 

A voice, barely heard: _“You will survive this, beloved.”_

 

A touch to his forehead.

 

Then something bursts, radiates out from a touch he’d thought he’d imagined, something bright and electric in his blood. His skin feels too tight, something inside him cracks and shifts but feels nothing like bones breaking and he takes clear, sharp, startled breath -

 

\---

 

The first thing Jesse realizes is that he’s sore, pains deep in his chest and belly. So he’s not dead. He’s surprised, he was sure he’d been a goner. He vaguely remembers a bright green light before he passed out, Genji must’ve found him and gotten him help. He owes the man a few drinks now, plus whoever managed to patch him up. Right now he still hurts so he’s going to stay here on what feels like one of the infirmary beds until he can sit up again.

 

There’s an itch on his chin, so he reaches up to scratch, except he finds he can’t reach. He tries again and no, his right arm feels too short to reach his face. That’s weird, he’s laying on his side and doesn’t feel any restraints, what’s wrong? He curls his hand into a fist in frustration, why would -

 

Jesse freezes, and keeps his eyes closed. His closed hand feels wrong, his nails too long and too thick, fingers arranged differently from how they should be. He feels his breathing pick up as he starts to realize other things are out of place: his skin feels thicker with a different texture, and as he breathes through his mouth realizes the shape of it is wrong -

 

“McCree.”

 

He doesn’t want to open his eyes, doesn't want to see what’s happened to him, maybe he isn’t back in Gibraltar recovering maybe Talon found him and they’re experimenting on him -

 

“McCree.”

 

He thought he was safe he thought - no no, calm down calm down, if he’s been captured he needs to -

 

“McCree, wake up.”

 

Something touches his shoulder and Jesse thrashes in panic, only to immediately drop back down as pain flares down his torso. “Do not be frightened, you are safe now,” says a calm voice, one he recognizes now, and Jesse opens his eyes. He has to blink against the bright light before he can see properly.

 

It’s Zenyatta, the monk floating cross-legged next to his bed. As Jesse had originally thought, he’s in the infirmary at Gibraltar in one of the private rooms, with an IV in his arm and surrounded by beeping machines. He can also see what appears to be the end of a snout, covered in bright red scales. He goes cross-eyed trying to look at it.

 

“Do you know where you are?” Zenyatta asks, and Jesse looks back up at him. He nods, at a loss for words, “Do you know who I am?” Jesse nods, “Do you know who you are?” Jesse nods again, “Can you tell me your name?”

 

“Jesse McCree” he tries to say, but the unfamiliar shape of his mouth mangles the sound, coming out as a jumbled mess. It must be close enough because Zenyatta nods in understanding.

 

“Please do not stress yourself,” Zenyatta says, the omnic’s serene voice helping to soothe Jesse’s earlier panic, “It is enough that you have not lost your memories. If you can still speak in this form you will learn in time, and if not we will find another means of communication. For now, you are still recovering from your injuries, and it is more important that you rest.”

 

“What happened?” Jesse tries to ask, the words coming out garbled, but Zenyatta seems to understand.

 

“I have alerted Dr. Ziegler and Genji that you have awakened,” the monk says, “They can better explain, I was not there to see.”

 

Jesse cranes his neck, now much longer, to get a better look at his body. Instead of brown skin he sees red scales, and gauze bandages wrapped around his chest and belly, where he’d been shot. His arms and legs are a little shorter now, ending in clawed feet, except for what had once been his left arm, which still ends just above where his elbow should be. There is a long tail hanging over the end of the bed, and line of spines extending all the way down his back and tail. He moves the tail, curls it closer to his body, the motion somehow both perfectly natural, as if it was something he always had, and utterly alien.

 

He’s a dragon, the kind he’s seen Genji summon.

 

“Would you like a mirror?” Zenyatta asks, and Jesse shakes his head, still staring at his tail. There’s already too much to take in, he’s not ready to see his face.

 

“You are frightened and overwhelmed,” Zenyatta says, it’s not a question, “Please be assured that you are among friends who want to help.”

 

Before Jesse can think of a response he hears footsteps approach, and feels an ear twitch in the direction of the sound. Another strange thing he’ll have to adjust to.

 

The door slides opens and Angela rushes in, and he can see the weight being lifted off her shoulders when she sees him. “You’re awake!” she says, “So good to see you up!”

 

Genji follows behind at a slower pace, and stops to stare at Jesse for a moment. Jesse tries to stare back, hard when he can’t see Genji’s eyes, waiting for him to say something. Instead Genji quickly turns to Zenyatta, “Excuse us Master,” Genji says, with a brief bow to Zenyatta, “Angela and I must speak with McCree now.”

 

“Of course,” Zenyatta, says, “Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.” He turns and gives Jesse a quick little wave, before floating away, the door sliding closed behind him.

 

Angela moves to grab a couple of chairs in the corner so she and Genji can sit next to Jesse. Jesse shuffles around on the bed to figure out the best way to settle so he can talk to them. He ends up laying on his stomach half curled up so he can face Angela and Genji, and his tail slips off the end of the bed. He lifts it up and curls it back close again, this was not how he expected his day to go, he has a _tail_.

 

“Here,” Angela lays down a holopad in front of Jesse on the bed, taps a couple of buttons, and a holographic keyboard appears. “Text-to-speech,” she explains, turning the device towards him, “We weren’t sure if you would be able to talk, so I brought this just in case. Just type what you want to say and press ‘speak’.”

 

It’s a standard keyboard setup with the addition of a bright green “Speak” button on one side, simple enough. He has to use one finger (Toe? Claw?) to type, so it’s slow and awkward. He’ll have to keep it short until he can figure out how to talk with a mouth full of fangs.

 

“THANK YOU,” says the app in a mechanical, masculine voice.

 

“First, are you in pain? Do you need anything?” Angela asks. Jesse shakes his head, and Angela relaxes, relief in her eyes. She looks so, so tired, “That’s good. What’s the last thing you remember before waking up just now?”

 

Jesse takes a moment to think, before typing his answer, “DYING.”

 

“You did not die,” Genji says, “But you were about to.”

 

Genji’s posture was stiff, sitting up straight with his arms crossed. As if this whole thing wasn’t bad enough if he wanted an explanation Jesse would need to drag the answers out of him, “WHAT HAPPENED?” Jesse types.

 

“Something very similar happened when Overwatch first brought Genji in,” Angela began, “A Blackwatch agent in Hanamura found what she first thought was an animal corpse, but on closer inspection was - and yes no one believed her at the time - a dragon. Severely injured but still alive.”

 

Jesse looks over at Genji, who’s staring down at the floor.

 

“No one knew what to make of it,” Angela continued, “The dragon was transported to the nearest Watchpoint for medical treatment. I was on staff and was called in to treat its injuries. But as soon as we had begun to pull it out of critical condition, its skin sloughed off, and changed into a person. His conditioned worsened again, and would have died shortly after if he hadn’t already been in the middle of a medbay with all the tools needed to save him.” Angela looks over at Genji, clearly waiting for him to speak up.

 

“I have no memory of any of this,” Genji says quietly, looking back up at Jesse, “At the time I did not know our dragons could do such a thing. I had no idea they could transform someone else either.”

 

“The good news is,” Angela says, trying to take attention away from Genji’s discomfort, “If this is the same as last time the effect should only be temporary. I’ll need you to stay here and monitor your health closely, so if your condition worsens I can treat it quickly.”

 

Jesse feels his heart sink, “BAD NEWS?”

 

“Bad news is we have no idea when that might be,” Angela says, and Jesse does not miss how Genji shrinks a little, “I’ve already spoken with Winston, you’re officially on medical leave until this is resolved, and I know you hate hearing that,” she adds quickly, as Jesse groans, “I’m sure we’ll find a way to keep you occupied.”

 

Jesse grumbles, and glances over at Genji again, who’s still staring at the floor. Jesse grits his teeth impatiently as he types a much longer message, “CAN I TALK TO GENJI ALONE?”

 

Angela briefly glances between the two of them, “Sure,” she stands up, “Please press the call button if you need me at any time.”

 

The only sound is the hiss of the door as it slides open and closed, leaving the two of them in a thick, awkward silence.

 

Jesse can still tell what Genji is thinking with the visor on. It was a little easier back in Blackwatch, when Jesse could see his eyes (and he misses those eyes, striking even when filled with rage) but his body language is the same as it always was, “WHAT’S WRONG?” Jesse types.

 

Genji is quiet for a moment, “I know this must be distressing for you,” he says, “I am sorry.”

 

“YOU SAVED MY LIFE,” Jesse types. Using the app is tedious but he’s starting to get a little better at it.

 

“Not me,” Genji says, “My dragon,” Genji take a deep, bracing breath,“I was going to kill you. Angela was so far from where I found you, and you were in such pain. I wasn’t sure you could be saved, and I didn’t want to see you suffer needlessly. It was my dragon who intervened and saved you, I had no idea she could do such a thing.”

 

Genji sits very patiently as Jesse types out a long message, Jesse muttering in frustration, “IT’S OKAY YOU’D MAKE IT QUICK AND THANK YOUR DRAGON FOR ME.”

 

“I cannot,” Genji says. Jesse frowns, or thinks he frowns, he’s not sure what his expression looks like. Before he can start typing again Genji speaks up, “She possessed your body to transform you, I can no longer reach her.”

 

Jesse’s hand falls away from the holopad, at a loss for words, spoken or typed.

 

“I once had two dragon spirits, which is typical for my clan,” Genji continues, “One transformed me after my clan had me killed, but she couldn’t sustain me and she died, and that’s when I changed back. The remaining spirit is with you now, I have no connection to her.”

 

The implications of that statement hangs heavy in the air. Jesse never heard Genji talk about the dragon spirits before, kept secret like so much about his life before Blackwatch. Jesse understood they were something exclusive to the Shimada clan, but had no idea how they worked or even what they were. Didn’t know Genji’s dragon was female and has no idea if she has a name. He didn’t know they could die. “DON’T WANT HER TO DIE,” Jesse types.

 

“I don’t know if she will,” Genji says, sounding helpless and Jesse doesn’t know what to do with that, “You were unconscious for two days, already longer than I was transformed. I don’t know if that means she’s recovering or if something has happened or - ” Genji stops, and doesn’t say anything else, unable or unwilling to find the words.

 

Jesse wants to reach out, offer some comfort or reassurance, but it’s not his place. If he hadn’t run off during the mission he wouldn’t have gotten shot to pieces. He doesn’t understand the dragon spirits but he knows they’re important to Genji, and he doesn’t want Genji to lose his because Jesse did something stupid. He doesn’t know the details of what happened to Genji since he left Blackwatch, but Genji’s finally in a place where he isn’t miserable all the time and Jesse hates to think that as soon as they’ve mended their friendship he’s gone and hurt Genji again.

 

“I’M SORRY,” Jesse types.

 

“There is no need for apologies,” Genji says shaking his head, “What’s done is done, and you are alive. That is what matters.”

 

Jesse wracks his brain, there must be something he can do, “CAN I TALK TO HER?”

 

“I don’t know,” Genji says, with a despondent shrug, “I wish I knew more. There is nothing any of us can do but wait.”

 

That’s the worst possible answer. Jesse rolls over and curls up facing away from Genji, who takes that as a sign to leave, the door quietly closing behind him.


	2. Fang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Time to see if I achieved a sense of quiet melancholy or instead wrote something dumb and cheesy eyyy
> 
> Also snuck in my fav rare pair Because

The mission had gone smoothly, until Genji realizes he doesn’t know where McCree is.

 

Everyone else is there with their payload, escorting it out of the building: Angela, Mei, Reinhardt, Brigitte, and Lena. They were even winning, most of the Talon soldiers either dead or retreating. But no cowboy.

 

“Where’s McCree?” Genji shouts over the noise, and he gets a chorus of confused answers.

 

“Thought he was just here,” Lena says, before zipping past Genji to take down a soldier behind him.

 

“We’re almost out of here, I’ll go find McCree!” Genji shouts, and dashes off past crates and shelves, back into the depths of the warehouse. He’s the fastest of their strike group, he’ll have the best chance of finding him.

 

He runs and climbs and tries to listen for the crack of Peacekeeper’s fire, or the jingle of spurs. What could McCree have been thinking? They’re raiding a Talon warehouse, indoors with only one escape route and their enemies still near, this is the worst time to get separated from the group.

 

Genji’s comms are built into his helmet, it takes only a thought to open it to a channel that McCree should hear, “McCree you’re not with the team, where are you?” he says, and gets nothing but faint empty static in reply. Genji moves faster.

 

After searching for how long he’s not sure he finds the body of a Talon enforcer, a neat bullet hole right through their helmet. He’s on the right track.

 

He doesn’t have to go much further before he finds a much larger cluster of bodies in Talon armor, all with tidy gunshot wounds. They were all facing the same direction, towards one particular crate, otherwise unremarkable.

 

Behind it he finds McCree, laying in a pool of blood. He has one arm outstretched, a loose grip around the handle of his gun. McCree looks over at Genji has he approaches, pupils blown and gaze unfocused. Genji has no idea if McCree can even see him now.

 

“McCree, what happened?” Genji asks, trying to keep the panic from his voice. McCree says nothing, makes no sign that he even heard Genji.

 

Genji opens his comms, sends out a ping marking his location to the rest of the team as he kneels down at McCree’s side. “I’ve found McCree and he’s injured,” he says. He sees several bloody spots down McCree’s chest, punctures through his chest-plate and shirt, “He has multiple gunshot wounds and he’s not talking to me.”

 

_“I’m on my way,”_ he hears Angela say over the comms, _“The most important thing is to put pressure on his wounds, don’t try to remove any bullets, and don’t try to move him if you’re safe.”_

 

McCree’s breaths are shallow, pained wheezes. He may only have minutes.

 

If Angela can reach them in time, and had all the tools she needed, Genji knows she could save him. She had rebuilt Genji, brought him back when he’d been on the brink. But back then she’d had a team of nurses with her, a considerable budget from Overwatch, and all the time and supplies she needed. They had none of that now, their recalled Overwatch much smaller, had barely enough money to keep going, scavenging supplies from any Talon base they clear or criminal den they empty, because that’s their only consistent source of food and medicine.

 

Jesse is going to die.

 

His eyes shift away from Genji to stare out at nothing, his breathing still wet and shallow. Suffering.

 

Genji grips the handle of the wakizashi at his hip and draws the blade where it shines even in the low light. Should he do it, end his friend’s suffering, or wait and see if Angela really can save him? He raises the blade as if to strike, unable to look away from Jesse’s glassy eyes. They were doing better now he wasn’t ready for this -

 

_“No.”_

 

The voice is quiet, commanding. The green dragon spirit appears by his side, standing tall and proud, and Genji lowers the blade to stare. She leans her head down to Jesse, who doesn’t seem to realize she’s there. She whispers something, too quiet even for his ears, and leans down just far enough to brush her nose against Jesse’s forehead. She disappears, and Genji feels diminished somehow, like something nameless inside him has evaporated.

 

Genji jumps as Jesse’s whole body spasms with a wet cracking sound. His skin shrivels and falls away in flakes replaced with bright scales, cloth and leather tears as claws and spines grow, clinking as the bullets are pushed from his body. Jesse shudders and take a loud, deep breath, and goes limp, eyes closed and body still.

 

Genji kneels down again, taking in the sight of the red dragon at his feet. Jesse’s clothes and armor are now ill-fitting, his prosthetic detached, and his breathing quieter, but steady. Genji presses a hand against Jesse’s neck, and after some searching finds a pulse, visor HUD displaying a heart rate low but not dangerously so. Genji uses his wakizashi to cut away at bloodied cloth and leather and finds that Jesse’s wounds, while still present, have stopped bleeding and become small clotted patches against the thinner scales of Jesse’s underbelly.

 

Something almost forgotten bubbles up in the back of Genji’s mind, images he’d been shown once. Unfocused photographs of medics working over a figure with green scales, strange people he never saw again asking him questions he didn’t want to answer. An old, hollow grief.

 

Genji takes his blade and shreds more of the ruined clothing into strips, wraps Jesse’s wounds as best he can to keep them from reopening, moving slowly, listening for Angela or more Talon soldiers. It’s at once too quiet and too loud, Genji keeps his focus on a practical task, something he can control. They all need to get out of immediate danger before he’ll let himself really think about what’s happened.

 

It’s several more minutes before Angela arrives, he hears the whirr of her wings deploy behind him. He looks over his shoulder to see her, standing with her staff at the ready, “Where’s Jesse?” she asks, and Genji stands, so she can see. She looks down at Jesse, then back up at him, eyes wide. She remembers too.

 

Angela quickly rushes over and kneels down at the McCree’s side. She keeps her focus on her patient, turning her staff on him, the device humming as it projects its biotic beam. They sit in silence until the others arrive with a hover stretcher. They all stare at McCree but don’t ask questions, not yet at least. Angela and Genji carefully load McCree onto the stretcher, his tail hanging off one end to drag across the ground. Before they leave Genji unwraps McCree’s serape from around his neck, uses it to gather up his hat, unloaded gun, and prosthetic, before leaving this miserable place behind.

 

\---

 

The air is heavy on the Orca. Lena is up front piloting the craft, everyone else in the main passenger area. Angela sits by McCree’s side, a first aid kit popped open next to her. She starts to setup an IV bag, but Genji watches her gently lift McCree’s right arm (Foreleg?) to stare at it, before setting it back down.

 

“Genji,” says a voice so soft it’s barely audible over the hum of the engines. Mei is looking over at him, open worry on her face. Even Snowball, peering over her shoulder, has a sad expression on their display, “What happened to McCree?”

 

“I’m not sure,” Genji says, which is only half true.

 

\---

 

They make it safely back to the Watchpoint, where the rest of the team is waiting. Lena must have already radioed ahead to tell them what happened. They crowd around the Orca as soon as it lands, not at all subtle about trying to peek inside and catch a glimpse of McCree. Angela steps off before anyone else and shoos the crowd away, and Winston takes over, ordering the rest of the team to attend to their duties. While they unload the Orca, Angela takes McCree on the hover stretcher and rushes off for the medbay, giving the rest of the team not so much as a glance.

 

By the time Genji visits the medbay Angela’s work is done. McCree is still unconscious, bloody clothes gone, his chest and stomach wrapped in gauze, machines monitoring his vitals beeping softly. McCree is laying on his side, limbs tucked in close to his body. There’s now an IV in his right arm (Foreleg?), she must’ve been able to find a vein after all.

 

Angela is checking each of the monitors, looking up at him when the door slides open. She only glances up at him with a distant stare, before turning back to the machines. Angela had been so different once, bright and full of hope. They all used to be different.

 

“How’s McCree?” Genji asks, still standing in the doorway.

 

“Stable,” Angela says, voice distant, hollow, “Zenyatta and Echo promised to keep an eye on him when I’m done, and they’ll let me know when he wakes or changes back and help him if he needs it immediately,” Angela runs a hand down her face, her breath shuddering, “I’m sorry.”

 

Genji walks in to stand at her side, “It’s not your fault,” he says, “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

 

“There’s so few of us,” Angela sounds almost on the verge of tears, “If he’d died...” her breath catches in her throat, “Maybe I shouldn’t have joined. I don’t know if I can handle any more of my friends dying. I’m so fucking _tired_ , Genji.”

 

He holds out an arm, she leans in close, and he wraps an arm around her shoulder. They stand there for a moment, Genji waiting until Angela is ready, the only sound the beeping of the machines. Then Angela takes a deep breath, nods, and stands up straight, and Genji lets his arm fall back to his side.

 

“Master and Echo can take over from here,” Genji whispers, “You’ve done so much already, I think it’s time you take a rest. I’m sure Mei is worried about you.”

 

“She always worries,” Angela says, but there’s a small smile on her lips.

 

“I do,” says a quiet voice behind them. It’s Mei, with Zenyatta floating close behind her. “Let’s go, Angie,” Mei says, putting her hands on Angela’s arm, “Zenyatta is here to take over for you. I have some tea ready back in our room.”

 

Angela nods, and allows Mei to lead her away with gentle hands. Zenyatta places a hand on Genji’s arm but says nothing, waiting to see if Genji is ready to speak. Genji shakes his head, and takes his own leave.

 

\---

 

It’s only when he goes to run a training exercise does he realize what the strange emptiness inside him means.

 

The price to call the dragon’s rage is blood and violence, whether his or his enemies. He shreds the training bots in the yard, stabs and tears and screams and he doesn’t feel the dragon’s power.

 

He goes to speak with Zenyatta.

 

\---

 

The next time Genji goes to visit McCree, he finds Echo at his bedside. She has a holopad open and is watching a holovid, though what he can’t see from this angle.

 

“Greetings, Echo.”

 

“Hello Genji,” she says with a holographic smile.

 

“How’s McCree?”

 

“No change,” she says, closing the holovid with a wave of her hand, “His vitals are steady but he’s still asleep.”

 

Genji nods, and can’t think of anything else to say. He doesn’t know when McCree met Echo, or who she is. One day she and McCree showed up to answer the recall, Echo more enthusiastically than him. Apparently Echo had to persuade McCree to return at all.

 

“You’re worried about him,” Echo says, breaking through Genji’s thoughts, “When he wakes you should tell him.”

 

Genji looks over at McCree, and remembers punctured armor and empty eyes.

 

“I’ll think about it,” he lies.

 

\---

 

Genji had already promised to help Angela explain the transformation to McCree, so when he gets a message from Zenyatta that McCree is finally awake he thinks he’s ready.

 

Then Jesse looks right at him, waiting for answers, and Genji looks away, like a coward.

 

It’s both harder to understand McCree and just the same as always. His expressions are difficult to read and the text-to-speech app lacks any emotional inflection. The vocalizations he can make are mostly frustrated growls directed at the app, body language tense and upset. He’s angry and lost.

 

Trapped in a body that doesn’t feel like his.

 

When Genji tells him there is nothing they can do but wait, McCree curls up away from him, and Genji leaves, because there is nothing they can do but wait.

 

If only he’d realized McCree was gone sooner, if only he’d found him sooner, if only he paid close enough attention to see whatever made him run off in the first place. If only he had learned more about the dragon spirits while he was still part of his clan and knew something that could actually help. He feels like he could have done more, and Genji hates to think that as soon as they’ve mended their friendship he’s gone and hurt Jesse again.

 

\---

 

Jesse knows he is dreaming.

 

He is not only himself again but whole, his left arm as it once was, tattoo and all. He isn’t at Gibraltar anymore, but in a familiar desert, sand and stone under a noontime sun. He can’t quite remember where this particular stretch of nothing was, but it could be anywhere in the New Mexican desert. He’d spent so many of his years on the run in the American Southwest, after a while it all blended together in his head.

 

In the distance he can see a faint green glow, tucked against a cluster of rocks. As he gets closer he recognizes the shape for what it is: a bright spirit dragon, curled up at its base, green scales gleaming in the sunlight. As he approaches she lifts her head to look at him at him, she’s been expecting him.

 

_“Beloved,”_ she says, her voice is warm and soft, and she speaks English with a thick accent just like Genji’s. He’s never heard Genji’s dragon speak before, didn’t know she could.

 

Jesse kneels down in front of her, and his bad knee doesn’t hurt or pop even a little bit. He has no idea what to do or say, and he desperately, _desperately_ , does not want to offend the dragon.

 

“Genji told me you saved my life,” he says, bowing his head, “Thank you.”

 

The dragon hums, pleased.

 

“I’m... not quite sure why or how, if you don’t mind me asking,” Jesse says hesitantly, “I thought only the Shimadas could control the dragon spirits.”

 

The dragon smiles, lips pulling back to expose long, shining fangs, _“You cannot control me.”_

 

Jesse tries not to think of all the times he’s seen Genji’s dragon tear his enemies apart,“Point taken.” He sees bloody patches on the ground beneath her chest and belly, surprised she could bleed. At this point he shouldn’t be when he learns something new and strange about the dragon spirit, “You’re hurt.”

 

_“It is not so dreadful as it seems,”_ she says, _“You borrow my form and I take your injuries. That is how I saved you, how my sister saved our dragon-child,”_ Dragon-child must be Genji, and he wonders why she calls him that, _“Your wounds were not so grave as his. In time I will recover my strength and return. You have nothing to fear, for me or yourself.”_

 

“Why?” he asks, then quickly adds, “Begging your pardon, seems I’m a bit outside your jurisdiction.”

 

The dragon leans forward, her face close to his. He looks her in the eye, and feels like her stare can see into him, _“I would not allow our beloved to die, not while there is still fire left in us.”_

 

“You called me that earlier,” Jesse says, “Not sure what I did to deserve that.”

 

_“Are you a fool?”_

 

Jesse blinks, “No?”

 

_“Then I do not need to explain. Or perhaps you have some things to consider more closely.”_ She rests her head back on the ground, sighing as she settles down, _“I grow weary, and need to rest. We will speak again.”_

 

Jesse remembers nothing else.

 

\---

 

Jesse wakes up and he sees the four walls of his room in the Gibraltar medbay, his arm gone and still in the shape of a dragon. The memory of the dream doesn’t fade. Maybe it wasn’t a dream, stranger things have happened recently.

 

He reaches over to the holopad, taps the plastic case to wake it, the display flicking to life. The clock in the corner of the holoscreen reads 02:36, and decides to ignore it and act now, before he forgets what happened. He opens the text-to-speech app and begins to type.

 

“ATHENA I NEED TO TALK TO GENJI,” says the app, and Jesse looks up at the ceiling. He knows the AI can see and hear him, but has never been quite sure where to look when addressing her.

 

_“I’ve alerted Agent Shimada and he’s on his way,”_ Athena’s voice from somewhere above him, _“Is this an emergency?”_

 

“NO JUST NEED TO TELL HIM SOMETHING THANK YOU,” Jesse types, though by the time he finishes he’s sure Genji’s already halfway there. He’s not surprised when only half a minute later the door to his room slides open and Genji quickly walks in.

 

“Is everything alright?” Genji says in a rush.

 

“THINK I TALKED TO YOUR DRAGON IN A DREAM,” Jesse types.

 

Genji stops, takes a moment to calm himself. He grabs a chair from the corner of the room to sit down at his bedside. “My dragons have spoken to me in dreams,” he says, “They have spoken to me in other ways, I am glad there is a way she can speak with you. What did she say?”

 

“SHE WAS HURT BUT WOULD HEAL,” Jesse types.

 

Genji immediately relaxes and sighs, murmurs something to himself in Japanese. He leans forward again, and says in English, “That is good. Did she say anything else?”

 

Jesse remembers how she had looked at him when he’d approached her, the warmth in her voice when she called him beloved. (He remembers holding skin and metal close, so near and so far, far away.)

 

“NO,” Jesse types.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> McCree: Why do you keep calling me beloved?
> 
> Dragon: You're a fucking idiot
> 
> McCree: ???


	3. Breath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Typo hunting should be, like, a sport

Jesse doesn’t remember Watchpoint: Gibraltar very well, he’d only been stationed there a couple times. Standing outside the front gate with Echo is surreal, he feels like a ghost, come to haunt an old home. By contrast Echo has never been to Gibraltar at all, and she is immediately enchanted by the scenery, the great cliffs and the sparkling sea.

 

If it hadn’t been for Echo he wouldn’t have returned at all.

 

He’d been all ready to ride off into the sunset, once he’d gotten her out of that crate. Ashe had left the keys in the ignition on her bike, the perfect ending to a successful operation. But then Echo had placed a light hand on the handlebars, and it stopped him as effectively as if she had torn out the batteries.

 

“Don’t you have unfinished business with Overwatch too?” she asks.

 

“Now don’t you worry about that,” he says with a smile, entirely fake, “I’ve done the math, you’ll do them a lot of good.”

 

“But they still want you, you said so yourself,” she argues, “You were second-in-command of Blackwatch, sounds to me they could use someone like you too.”

 

Jesse shifts his weight on the bike, he’d wanted to be gone by now, “Think that’s a disqualification more than anything else, considering how that all turned out.”

 

“You think too little of yourself,” she says, and moves her hand to to rest on his.

 

He didn’t have an answer for that.

 

So he followed her back to the source of the recall transmission, to Watchpoint: Gibraltar.

 

McCree is doubting again, now that he is here.

 

Winston is at the gate, along with a few of others behind him, “It’s good to see you, McCree, I wasn’t sure if you would answer the recall,” Winston says, and he seems relieved, “And who is this?” Winston asks, extending a hand to Echo.

 

“I am Echo,” she says, taking his hand, “I’m a friend of Jesse’s, he told me about the recall and I want to help.”

 

“It’s great to meet you, Echo,” Winston says, bright and hopeful, “I think you two will do a lot of good here.”

 

Jesse smiles, and it feels strained.

 

He looks behind Winston, and this time his smile isn’t strained, “I see a few familiar faces here.”

 

“We wanted to see you!” Angela says, with a genuine smile, “You were missed.”

 

Jesse doens’t know what to do with that. He spots two omnics he doesn’t know, one standing and one floating cross-legged, “Name’s McCree, who might you two be?”

 

“I am Zenyatta,” says the floating omnic, “I am a wandering monk, come to aid a worthwhile cause.”

 

“And you know me,” says the standing omnic, and recognition hits him like ice water. Genji sounds glad, but he couldn’t know for sure, his new armor covering his face entirely. A small voice reminded him he’d have to confront this eventually, but the rest was yelling that he wasn’t ready for this, wasn’t ready to see Genji again.

 

“If you’ll excuse us, we shouldn’t keep everyone,” Jesse says quickly, too quickly, “We’ll get settled in and let ya’ll get back to what you were doing.”

 

“Jesse...?” Echo says, concerned, and he doesn’t miss similar looks from Angela and Winston.

 

“I’ll show you where the dorms are, how about that?” Jesse says with his most charming smile. Genji and the others watch them go wordlessly, and Jesse leads Echo away, and tries to leave the past behind.

 

\---

 

_“Try this, Agent McCree: The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog.”_

 

Jesse tries to repeat the sentence, but there are too many sounds he can’t quite make anymore, his mouth and tongue the wrong shape for it. He tries again anyway, with no improvement.

 

 _“I think that is enough,”_ Athena says, _“I’m sorry Agent McCree, I don’t think it’s possible for you to speak in this state, I don’t think continuing to practice will help.”_

 

Jesse flops down on the bed with a grunt. He tugs his serape a little tighter around his shoulders, the only article of clothing that still fits.

 

It’s been a couple of days since he woke up, and nothing has changed, no indication that he’ll change back soon, so he’s still under Angela’s care. Being trapped in the medbay was always bad, he got bored and restless. This wasn’t like a stakeout where he had an objective, something to focus on or pay attention to. All he could do was sit around with his thumbs up his ass and it drove him up the wall. The holopad Angela had given him not only has the text-to-speech app on it, but several books and holovids he couldn’t bring himself to be interested in. He couldn’t even exercise yet, Brigitte still working on a new prosthetic for him and otherwise he couldn’t walk very well on three legs.

 

Maybe it’s time he bit the bullet and look a real look at his new face.

 

Jesse pulls the holopad closer, claws clicking against the plastic base. He pulls up the main menu and pokes around until he finds a camera app. He opens it, takes a deep breath, and presses “mirror”.

 

He sees what he was expecting but it still a shock all the same. He doesn’t look exactly like Genji’s dragon, he has shorter whiskers, and thick brown hair on his chin and along his jaw. On his head are curved horns and pointed ears he can swivel if he concentrates. His eyes look the same though, brown human eyes set in a dragon’s face. It was eerie, something he knew in something strange.

 

Jesse occupies himself by making faces into the camera, might as well figure out what his expressions look like now.

 

\---

 

When Mei visits, it’s to offer help he didn’t expect.

 

“Hi McCree.”

 

Jesse looks up at the sound of the quiet voice. Mei is standing in the doorway holding a small box and his hat tucked under one arm.

 

“I’ve been talking with Angela,” she says, fidgeting with the box, “I wanted to help, but I’m not a medical doctor, so I tried to think of what I can do. Angie said something about your hat not staying on because of your uh, horns, so I wanted to offer...” Mei flips open the lid of the tiny box, fishes around in the contents for a moment, and pulls out a bobby pin, “Mind if I try something?”

 

He misses his hat, and it seemed worth a try, “SURE,” he types.

 

It takes some time and the clever use of a couple of hair clips but Mei manages to arrange something so McCree’s hat will stay on his head. He looks at himself in the hand mirror Mei brought, his hat sitting more on his horns than the crown of his head. He tilts his head to one side then the other and the hat stays. It looks silly but it’s a small comfort, he feels a little more like himself.

 

“As long as you’re not going to do anything too strenuous, it should stay,” Mei says, double checking the clips, “It’ll need to be redone every morning but I can show Angie how to do it, or I can if you don’t mind, whichever you are more comfortable with.”

 

“EITHER THANK YOU,” Jesse types, more at ease than he’s been in since this trouble started.

 

\---

 

When Brigitte visits it’s to present him with his new prosthetic, which turns out to be little more than a peg leg.

 

“I’ll need some more time to study how you distribute weight on it before I can make something more sophisticated,” Brigitte explains, “But this should work for now. Can you get up and walk around a little? Let me know how it feels and if there’s anything I need to adjust.”

 

The prosthetic snaps onto his stump without issue, not even the sting of artificial nerves connecting, much more low-tech than his old arm. He takes a small walk in the hallway outside his room, it takes a few steps before he figures out the best way to walk with the peg leg, but when he does it works better than he expected. Nearby Brigitte looks between him and a holopad in her hands, taking data from his prosthetic so she can build a better one later, she’d explained. Jesse hopes he won’t be transformed for long enough to need it.

 

Angela stands nearby, watching the trial. After Brigitte finishes up and leaves to go back to her workshop, Angela manages a small smile, “Jesse, just because you can walk again doesn’t mean you can wander off. You’ll need someone to go with you if you leave the medbay.”

 

Jesse glowers, he doesn’t need a babysitter.

 

“Remember, we don’t know when you’ll change back or if it will hurt you,” Angela reminds him, “We can’t task risks when there’s so much we don’t know.”

 

Jesse grumbles, it’s true but that don’t mean he has to like it.

 

“If I catch you sneaking off,” Angela says, smile gone, “I’ll put an ankle monitor on you, I’m serious.”

 

Jesse looks away, tapping a foot against the tiles. He feels bad for making her worry, he owes her his life several times over, he shouldn’t take his frustration out on her. He nods, but can’t quite look her in the eye. Angela understands.

 

“I know you’re frustrated, don’t worry,” Angela says, “We’ll make sure you aren’t left alone too long.”

 

\---

 

When Genji visits, it’s to offer him an outlet.

 

“Angela says you are recovering well,” he says, “How do you feel?”

 

“BORED,” Jesse types into the holopad, and groans for emphasis.

 

“Angela also said you are healthy enough to exercise,” Genji says, “Thought you might like some time away from the medbay.”

 

Mopping floors would be more exciting than sitting around in bed, so Jesse jumps up, eager to be out of this small room. Genji laughs, a short sound bright and sweet, like he’s never head before recall, and motions for Jesse to follow him.

 

Genji leads him to the Watchpoint’s gym, sparely outfitted. Jesse grumbles as they the pass folded sparring mats.

 

He wishes they could. Back in Blackwatch they would spar regularly just to blow off steam, both knowing each other’s limits well and how far they could push the other, what they could and couldn’t break. Jesse is pretty sure he can’t hold a gun properly, can’t even throw a punch. His only options at this point are claws and fangs he has no idea how to properly use, and if he tried spar Genji with those he’d end up with a mouth full of broken teeth.

 

“That’s not the plan,” Genji says, picking up on Jesse’s discontent, “For today at least.”

 

He continues to follow Genji up a flight of stairs, awkward to navigate with three legs and a peg leg, until they reach the upstairs running track. It’s two lanes and about a quarter mile long.

 

“How would you feel about a race?” Genji says, “See who can do the most laps before passing out.”

 

Jesse grumbles and waves the peg leg. Doesn’t seem like it would be a fair competition.

 

“I’ve thought of that,” Genji says, and Jesse can hear the grin in his voice. Genji leans over and fiddles with the armor of his right leg. Then his leg pops off at the knee and clatters to the ground, making Jesse jump.

 

“I won’t make it a habit,” Genji says, his voice smug, enjoying Jesse’s shock. He holds out his arms to keep his balance on his remaining leg, “How do you feel about your chances now, cowboy?”

 

Jesse is pretty sure Genji could still find a way to outrun him on one leg, on the other hand he’s been going stir-crazy, and running in circles until he collapses sounds fantastic. Jesse grins and nods, and Genji gives him a thumbs up.

 

They gather up at the starting line, Genji hopping to the inside lane, Jesse setting up beside him.

 

“Ready?” Genji says, and Jesse crouches down, “Okay, go!”

 

Jesse bolts and immediately stumbles. It takes him several yards before he figures out how to arrange his legs to run with any speed, the peg leg making it that much more difficult. Genji moves by grabbing the hand rail and swinging himself forward, and predictably he’s still faster than Jesse, quickly passing him. Jesse shouts, and tries to speed up and trips. He hears Genji laugh again, and Jesse scrambles to his feet with a shout and keeps running.

 

He quickly loses count of how many laps they do, Genji passing Jesse every so often, Jesse trying to maintain his pace on four legs. Genji wins easily, even with only one leg, but when they’re done they both collapse on the floor, exhausted. Jesse feels great even if he’s sore all over, he’s been sitting around in bed for far too long.

 

“Could you get my leg for me?” Genji says laying on his back with his remaining limbs spread, “I don’t want to move right now.”

 

Jesse groans, gets to his feet, and walks over to the discarded prosthetic. After a moment of strategizing, he picks it up in his mouth by the ankle, and isn’t that surprised to find it’s much lighter than he thought it would be. It’s still awkward to hold onto, with all the weight to one side, and his teeth have a poor grip on the metal. He turns around, makes sure Genji sees that he has the prosthetic, and walks off in the direction of the stairs.

 

“Jesse, you bandit!” Genji shouts behind him, “Get back here!”

 

Jesse picks up the pace as he hears metal scraping against concrete. He doesn’t get far before something grabs his tail and yanks, and Jesse drops the prosthetic as he shouts. Genji laughs, and tries to get a hold on Jesse. He swipes at Genji’s helmet, snaps his teeth at him without malice, wriggling out of every pin Genji tries. He missed being able to just slack off with Genji -

 

He missed spending time with Genji -

 

He missed -

 

Jesse freezes, it takes a moment before Genji realizes, snatching the leg away with a triumphant shout, then sees that Jesse hasn’t moved.

 

“What’s wrong, are you okay?” Genji asks, “Are you hurt?”

 

Jesse smiles as best he can, not sure exactly if he can manage with with fangs, and shakes his head. He’s not sure if Genji’s convinced, but he snaps his leg back on, and they go back to the medbay.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Genji asks again, as they arrive at his room, and Jesse makes a dismissive snort, and waves his good arm.

 

“If you say so,” Genji says, with a shrug, and leaves.

 

As soon as he’s gone, Jesse burrows under the blankets on his bed and curls up miserably. He’s not even allowed to drink or smoke, Angela said something about not knowing his his body with process those things, but all it means was he doesn't have anything to take the edge off, so he is left to wallow in feelings he’d rather drown.

 

He still feels like he hurt Genji, like he doesn’t deserve to be happy with him in any way. Not just before, but now, he keeps hurting him. He’s the reason Genji lost his dragon.

 

And all of this happened because he thought he saw a ghost.

 

It had looked like Reyes, back in the warehouse. Same height and build, holding two shotguns the same style he had preferred. Jesse had only seen the figure from behind, and it quickly slipped away out of sight. And Jesse, like a fool, chased after it.

 

Not only did he not find them again, he ended up too far from the team to call for help when he was ambushed.

 

Jesse sits up and grabs the holopad from the bedside table, plays the first holovid on the list, and tries not to think.

 

\---

 

That night, Jesse dreams of the desert again.

 

The dragon spirit is waiting for him in the same place as before. He kneels down next to her, as he did before.

 

“You, uh,” Jesse hesitates, “You need to talk to me again?” Then he quickly adds, “Do you have a name? Don’t feel right to keep thinking of you as ‘the dragon’.”

 

 _“There are secrets I must keep even from you, beloved,”_ says the dragon, with a wink.

 

“Still not sure why you keep calling me that,” Jesse says, “Me and Genji only just became friends again, and even back then me and Genji weren’t that close.”

 

The dragon hangs her head, _“The Shimada clan has diminished so. It is an old family and we have had a pact for centuries. It breaks my heart to see them tear themselves apart, and I fear they may die out soon. I will do everything in my power to preserve what is left.”_

 

“I ain’t one of you,” Jesse says, the dragon _must_ know that.

 

 _“But you love him._ ”

 

“That - ” Jesse almost chokes on emotions he wants to bury, “That ain’t the same thing.”

 

_“You do not deny it.”_

 

“Don’t think I could get away with lying to you.”

 

 _“Very astute of you,”_ the dragon confirms, smug. Then her tone becomes serious again, _“You do not want him to know, do you truly think that is the best way forward?”_

 

“Can’t you see inside my head or something?” Jesse snaps, “Think you should know why I shouldn’t tell him.”

 

 _“You believe you are part of the cancer that destroyed your home, your family, and you fear you will carry that same sickness to this new home and family,”_ says the dragon, and hearing someone else makes him feel exposed, laid bare and raw, _“It was not your fault.”_

 

“I ain’t blameless neither,” Jesse says harshly, “Don’t matter if I didn’t plant those bombs, didn’t do nothing to stop it. I ran away when I knew things were past the tipping point rather than try to fix any of it, ran away when Genji couldn’t. This new Overwatch is supposed to be a band of heroes, and that’s not who I am.”

 

_“My dragon-child was once part of the same organization, is the same as you?”_

 

“No he ain’t!” Jesse says defensively, “Genji’s changed, he’s a different person now, happier and whole. And he don’t have a giant bounty on his head. And he don’t need someone who would just hold him back.”

 

The dragon hums, mournful.

 

 _“I cannot see into your innermost thoughts, but I can tell you what I have seen. You are blind to the value others see in you. You were your commander’s right hand yet you think you’ll never be more than the criminal Overwatch arrested. You think you are unworthy to give or receive love, but I can tell you, things are not so bleak as they may seem to you.”_ She presses the end of her snout against his forehead, he doesn’t push her away, _“Think on that, beloved.”_

 

He dreams of nothing else.

 

\---

 

Genji is in the middle of his afternoon mediation with Zenyatta at the cliffside when Winston approaches him, running quickly to their secluded spot.

 

“Sorry to interrupt, but Genji, I need your help,” Winston says, urgent and worried, “There’s a man at the Watchpoint gate, he says his name is Hanzo Shimada. I need you to come with me and confirm his identity.”

 

“I do hope this means your brother has taken your words to heart,” Zenyatta says, “Would you like me to go with you this time?”

 

Genji stands, heart racing, his brother is here, Hanzo listened to him, “No thank you, Master, I think he will be overwhelmed as it is. I will be sure to introduce you properly, I promise.”

 

Zenyatta nods, and Genji follows Winston to the Watchpoint’s gate, where three people are already waiting.

 

Angela and Reinhardt are already there, weapons drawn and standing very near the stranger. Angela in particular is fixing the newcomer with a cold glare he’s never seen from her before. He knows she hates unnecessary violence, but in this moment he’s not sure she won’t shoot him.

 

Genji recognizes him instantly, though Hanzo looks different from their meeting in Hanamura. Instead of the gi he’s wearing more casual clothing, sneakers, jeans, and a jacket. He has an undercut, rather than the more conservative hair style he had before. But it is Hanzo, unmistakably, even though Genji is shocked to see him with visible piercings.

 

Reinhardt spots Genji and Winston first, “Is this truly the man who maimed you?” he shouts, pointing at Hanzo, and Genji sees Hanzo flinch behind him.

 

“That is him, please, do not hurt him,” Genji says, keeping his voice calm, “I have forgiven my brother for the past, and I ask that if you cannot do so as well to at least tolerate him for me.”

 

Reinhardt tightens his grip his hammer briefly, but lowers it. Angela doesn’t move at all.

 

“Hanzo, what brings you here?” Genji asks, approaching his brother, hopeful.

 

“I have... been thinking about what you said,” Hanzo says, posture stiff and uncomfortable, trying to look only at his brother and not at the armed fighters nearby, “Recent events have forced me to reconsider my previous course. If there is conflict coming I want to be at my brother’s side. I wish to join you, if you will have me.”

 

Genji feels light, there is a chance for brother, for them, he wasn’t wrong to hope, “That is not for me to decide,” Genji says, though he knows now Hanzo will not be turned away, “Winston, what do you say?”

 

Winston is frowning, contemplative, “If Genji vouches for you, then I see no reason to turn away a potential ally,” Winston lopes closer, and extends a hand, “Welcome to Overwatch, Hanzo Shimada.”

 

Hanzo shakes Winston’s hand, awkward and unsure about the talking gorilla as the commander.

 

“I can give you the orientation when you’re settled in,” Winston says, “Genji, I assume you’d like to show him around?”

 

“I would, thank you,” Genji says, and steps closer to Hanzo, “Come, I’ll give you the grand tour.”

 

He leads Hanzo around the Watchpoint, showing him the base and introducing others as they walk by. The entire time he keeps thinking to himself how Hanzo’s timing is perfect, he needs his help now. But he restrains himself, keeps his selfish thoughts to himself, and only when he finishes, and Hanzo says he’s ready to get settled in, does he speak up.

 

“I need your help, brother,” Genji says, and Hanzo sighs, deep and pained.

 

“I was hoping you wouldn’t immediately get yourself into trouble,” Hanzo replies, “Clearly I was expecting too much.”

 

“Not for me,” Genji says, “For a friend.”

 

Hanzo raises his eyebrows, but says nothing, waiting for Genji to continue.

 

“You know I was never interested in learning about our family’s history,” Genji begins, “And I never learned much about our dragons. In the time since then, I’ve learned they can transform us if we are mortally wounded.”

 

Understanding dawns on Hanzo’s face, “They can,” he says, “Under the right circumstances.”

 

“Can they transform someone who isn’t a Shimada?” Genji asks.

 

Hanzo’s face becomes carefully blank, “In specific circumstances. Why?”

 

Not an encouraging response but not the worst Genji had feared, “One of the other agents here was fatally injured on a mission, but my dragon transformed him and saved him. He’s recovered but hasn’t changed back, and we don’t know if that’s normal or if something has gone wrong.”

 

Hanzo is quiet for a moment, Genji can’t tell what he’s thinking, “Show me the affected individual,” Hanzo says, “And I’ll see what I can do.”

 

Genji nods, and motions for his brother to follow him. He takes Hanzo to the medical wing, then to outside McCree’s door. He knocks, and the door slides open. McCree looks up as they enter, turning to Hanzo immediately.

 

“HOWDY,” McCree types.

 

Hanzo gives Genji a look that is equal parts exasperation and disbelief, “Why is the dragon wearing a cowboy hat?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo: I will join the cause my brother works for, and with him I will find redemption
> 
> Hanzo: (Arrives at Overwatch where there's a talking gorilla and a cowboy dragon)
> 
> Hanzo: Nevermind I want to go home


	4. Claw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with this chapter! I had other projects I wanted to finish so this chapter took longer then expected. The next one will also take about two weeks as it's the one I've had the most trouble with, but should be worth the wait!
> 
> Some new content warnings for this chapter: There's a situation that's briefly sexually charged, a panic attack, and dysmorphia of the cyborg kind

 

Genji had not expected Jesse to answer the recall. He wouldn’t have blamed him if he didn’t. He wasn’t even sure if Jesse was still alive, Winston seemed to think so but no one had been able to get into contact with him. He thought about Jesse sometimes in the past six years, but when he tried to picture where he might be, those thoughts always turned bleak, with Jesse in jail or a grave. It was a relief to see him alive, though Genji did not miss the glint of metal where an arm should be.

 

Jesse and Echo arrived at the Watchpoint that morning, and Genji hadn’t known what to do with himself, seeing Jesse again. Didn’t blame him for running off as quickly as he did when Genji greeted him. Even if Jesse didn’t want anything to do with him they needed to talk. It would have to be a private conversation, so he waits until that evening, when Jesse is settled in, before going to find him.

 

There’s so few of them now, all the agents occupy the old officer quarters instead of the barracks. After asking around to make sure he knows where to go, he goes to the room Jesse’s camped out in, and knocks.

 

After a moment door opens and Jesse is there, with a look of surprise, “Oh,” he says, awkward, moving his left arm behind his back, “Hey there.”

 

“I was hoping we could talk,” Genji says, “We did not part on the best of terms, I wanted to clear the air.”

 

Jesse hesitates, then stands aside to let Genji in. Back in Blackwatch, Jesse had decorated his room extensively: knick-knacks on shelves, posters on the wall, and colorful blankets on the bed. His space filled with color and light and stories, the few times Genji had seen it. Now it’s bare, the clean skeleton of a once living thing. It made sense, Jesse had been on the run for years, likely keeping only what he could carry. But he still felt like something is missing, that this not how a space Jesse lives in should be.

 

“Never did say sorry,” Jesse says, not quite looking him in the eye, “I’m sorry, I went too far and was a jackass when you told me to clear out.”

 

“I did not communicate how I felt well,” Genji says, “I took my anger out on you, and I am sorry for doing so,” He doesn’t want to think about how much he wants to reach out and touch him.

 

“No, don’t do that,” Jesse says, “That one was on me, don’t go blaming yourself for me being an asshole.”

 

“It’s not about blame,” Genji says, “I had a part in our falling out and I wish to lay it to rest. I would like us to be friends again, if you would care to be.”

 

Not that they ever talked about what they were. It wasn’t much, Genji had been hostile to most others during his time at Blackwatch, and though Jesse had a much larger social circle, he’d always made time for Genji. (Maybe it had only ever been the seedling of something. But it had been theirs.)

 

“Well,” Jesse smiles, lopsided and sincere, “I do miss having someone I trust keeping an eye on me,” his expression changes, becomes more guarded, “Listen, I don’t wanna be rude, but I gotta finish up here, but I’ll be seeing you around, yeah?”

 

“I understand,” Genji says, and he does, “I will leave you to get settled in.”

 

Genji leaves him be. Their talk wasn’t everything he could have hoped for, but it was enough.

 

Just because he wants something to be doesn’t mean it will be.

 

He is glad enough McCree is willing to be friendly with him again.

 

\---

 

McCree looks from Genji to Hanzo and back. McCree seems to frown, Genji isn’t sure.

 

“This is Jesse McCree,” Genji says to Hanzo, then he turns to McCree, “McCree, this is Hanzo - ”

 

McCree snarls, cutting off Genji. Hanzo stares back at him and doesn’t so much as twitch.

 

“McCree please,” Genji says, walking closer, “I have forgiven him, he is here because he wants to join us. I’ve asked him to help you, he knows more about our dragons and will give some insight into what has happened and if anything can be done.”

 

McCree grumbles, but after a glance back at Genji, settles down. He continues to give Hanzo a venomous glare, ears pinned back. Hanzo steps forward, arms crossed.

 

“You are familiar with my brother’s past?” Hanzo begins, straight to business.

 

“SURE AM,” McCree types, lips pulled back to expose his fangs.

 

“McCree...” Genjisighs, and McCree looks appropriately sheepish. As sheepish as a dragon can look, anyway.

 

“Who are you exactly?” Hanzo asks, ignoring McCree’s hostility.

 

“USED TO BE PART OF OVERWATCH WORKED WITH GENJI BACK IN THE DAY,” McCree types.

 

“What were your interactions with him at the time?” Hanzo asks, “Was he your commander?”

 

“WE WERE BOTH FIELD AGENTS,” McCree clarifies.

 

“Did you work together often?”

 

“YES OFTEN PARTNERED FOR MISSIONS.”

 

“Would you consider yourself friends with my brother? Were you close?”

 

McCree glances over at Genji, and he nods, hopes that McCree knows he can be truthful.

 

“WE’RE FRIENDS I KNOW HE HAS MY BACK AND HE KNOWS I WATCH HIS.”

 

“How did the transformation happen? What led up to it?”

 

McCree hesitates again, “WE WERE ON A MISSION I GOT SEPARATED AND AMBUSHED GENJI FOUND ME AND I PASSED OUT DON’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED.”

 

“That is common,” Hanzo says, “The transformation can be stressful at best. About how long have you been transformed?”

 

“ALMOST A WEEK.”

 

Hanzo pauses in his questioning, pondering.

 

“From what I can tell, everything is proceeding as normal,” Hanzo explains, “A week is how long a transformation usually lasts. Barring any further injury you should change back within a day or two, and Genji’s dragon will return to him.”

 

“IS CHANGING BACK DANGEROUS AT ALL?” Jesse asks.

 

“Uncomfortable apparently, but shouldn’t cause any lasting harm,” Hanzo says with a dismissive wave of his hand, “Do you have any further questions?”

 

McCree thinks, tapping a claw on the holopad, then shakes his head.

 

“I’ve seen everything I need to,” Hanzo says in Japanese, “We should speak in private.”

 

McCree looks at Genji, waiting for a translation, “I understand,” Genji replies in kind, then in English he says to McCree, “I need to help Hanzo get settled in, excuse us.”

 

McCree waves at Genji as they leave. Genji takes Hanzo to his room, the best place for them to have a private conversation, and Genji braces himself for bad news. If it’s something he has to say to Genji and doesn’t want McCree to know it can’t be good.

 

“Please tell me you have something to drink in here,” Hanzo says as soon as the door closes behind them.

 

“I’m afraid not,” Genji says, “Only water.”

 

Hanzo grumbles, “I didn’t want to deal with this sober, but perhaps I deserve this.”

 

Genji blinks at him behind his visor, “What are you talking about?”

 

Hanzo doesn’t answer, instead sits down heavily in a chair. Genji sits down on his bed, the only other available surface.

 

“I need you to tell me more about McCree,” Hanzo says, “The more I understand the better I can assist.”

 

Hanzo has a stern frown, it was a look he always had when Genji was in trouble, “What else do you need to know?”

 

“He said you two have worked together for some years,” Hanzo says, crossing his arms, “Start there.”

 

Genji taps metal fingers against his thigh, “Like he said, we both worked for Overwatch,” he begins, “Blackwatch, actually, I’m sure you saw the news what that scandal broke,” Hanzo nods, and Genji continues, “We were peers, he was a part of Blackwatch for many years before I joined. He was one of the few others I got along with during my time in Blackwatch. There’s not much more beyond what McCree has already said.”

 

“Is that all?”

 

Genji isn’t sure what Hanzo is looking for, or what point he’s trying to make, “We’ve been out of touch between the fall and recall, and you know everything that’s happened before and since then. So yes, that is all.”

 

Hanzo leans back and sighs though his nose, “The question now is are you lying only to me or also to yourself?”

 

Genji bristles, “What are you talking about? I answered your questions truthfully.”

 

“It’s not facts as you’ve told them I’m disputing,” Hanzo says, “There is precedent for this. There are records of our dragons transforming members of our family. Most of the time it is an individual of our bloodline with their own dragons whose life is in danger but,” Hanzo waves a hand, “In rare cases they can transform others. But even then those individuals were adopted or married in, brought into the family.” Hanzo leans forward, “Your dragon saved McCree because you love him.”

 

Genji feels cornered, “Brother, I didn’t think you were the type to gossip.”

 

“It’s a statement of fact, not _gossip_ ,” Hanzo argues, “The dragons’ protection extends only to our family, even the Shimada’s most loyal servants or followers were never granted this kind of protection. They don’t always accept non-blood relations either but when they do they’re treated no different.”

 

Genji says nothing, but he feels his heart race.

 

Hanzo leans back, “I’m starting to think you already knew this.”

 

Genji hangs his head.

 

“He seems your type too,” Hanzo says with a grin, “Loud, obnoxious, and outrageously dressed. The elders would’ve hated him.”

 

Genji looks down at his hands, one armored, one purely mechanical.

 

(He remembers when he first realized what his feelings really were.)

 

\---

 

There’s a knock on his door, and he recognizes that particular sound.

 

“Come in,” Genji calls, but stays curled up on his bed, facing the wall. He hears the door slide open and closed, the tell-tale jingle of spurs he’s not sure he hates anymore.

 

“Hey,” Jesse murmurs, and Genji feels one corner of the bed sink as Jesse sits down next to him. Genji does not acknowledge him.

 

“Brought you the meds you asked for,” Jesse says, and Genji hears a plastic bottle being placed on the nightstand, “Need anything else while I’m here?”

 

Genji curls up tighter, “Touch,” he murmurs, like he’s telling a secret.

 

“Okay,” Jesse says quietly. Genji hears shuffling as Jesse puts his hat on the nightstand, then a creak as the mattress shifts again and Jesse lays down and moves up close behind him.

 

Genji can’t remember exactly how this practice started. It was certainly sometime after Venice, as everything began to go from bad to worse, and Overwatch’s future became uncertain. Maybe it just took him that long to become truly desperate for human contact, anything that wasn’t a violent blow, or a medic’s searching hands. Jesse is one of the very few people he doesn’t want to disembowel, one of the fewer still whose company is somewhat pleasant.

 

It barely helps, even as Jesse wraps an arm across Genji’s real shoulder, and he registers the other’s legs brush against his own fake ones, unable to forget his own stitched-together, patchwork body. He doesn’t understand why Jesse isn’t repulsed by what he’s become, most others are. He won’t question it, not when he’s so quietly desperate for -

 

Genji’s thoughts are abruptly derailed when he feels something brush against the skin of his neck, soft and gentle.

 

He turns his head to stare at Jesse, whose eyes are wide with shock and embarrassment. Jesse pulls away, “Sorry, shouldn’t have done that.”

 

Jesse had kissed him, like he were something precious and beautiful, and not a weapon with occasional delusions of humanity. Something inside him tears and falls away. Genji’s arms snap forward and grab Jesse’s hips, shifting his weight quickly to roll them over so he’s sitting on Jesse’s lap and pinning him to the bed.

 

Jesse only blinks up at Genji, startled but not afraid or disgusted. Jesse tilts his head back into the pillow ever so slightly, and he really was handsome wasn’t he, “Ain’t this an interesting change of pace,” he says with a lazy smile.

 

This situation is so familiar, someone attractive laying beneath him, eager and wanting, he reaches out a hand to touch him but stops. He stares at his right hand, the ugly thing that’s supposed to be his right hand. Metal and ceramic and wires and tubes and mechanisms for sliding his shuriken into his fingers. His body came from blueprints and fabricators and assembled by technicians in a lab how can he even think about touching someone when he was built to be this? The worst part is he wants to, want to reach out and touch him gently, be touched gently, like he’s still human enough to want things like touch and comfort and affection -

 

He wants to be what he was -

 

He wants -

 

Jesse reaches up his own hand, still flesh and blood and whole, and Genji flinches. “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Jesse asks, open and sincere, and the endearment burns like acid.

 

And that acid sears away what composure Genji has left. He pushes off of Jesse to curl up again on the bed, fingers gripping and tugging at what’s left of his hair, his breathing sharp and harsh. He still wanted to hold Jesse close but he feels like he is playing a trick on him, deceiving him, what would Jesse think of Genji if he said he loved him?

 

Even Jesse would be disgusted by what’s left of his face.

 

“Get out,” Genji mutters into his knees.

 

“What was that?” Jesse leans towards him, “What’s wrong?”

 

“Get out!” Genji screams at him, shuriken sliding into his hand unthinking, bared them like claws, “Get out _get out GET OUT_!”

 

Jesse backpedals, looking hurt, then his expression turns dark, “You could’ve just _said_ ,” he snaps, and storms out, his steps quick and heavy as they fade away.

 

Genji curls up again, flinching as the shuriken scrape against the metal of his faceplate. He flicks his wrist and the stars disappear into his arm, and the feel of the mechanism makes him sick. He glances over at the nightstand and sees that Jesse forgot his hat.

 

He reaches out and grabs it, should he give it back to him? No, that would mean looking at him again, or approaching him. Or what if Jesse comes back for it? Genji might just fall apart if he sees him again, disassemble to his component parts so he can disappear forever. Without realizing it Genji is laying in bed, clinging to a cowboy hat like a small child would a stuffed toy, aching for something he can’t have.

 

Disgraceful.

 

\---

 

(They had barely spoken after that. It’s not a memory Genji likes to dwell on.)

 

“Genji?” Hanzo whispers, breaking the silence.

 

Genji brushes aside the memory, and takes a steadying breath, “In the past I was curt and cruel,” Genji says, “I’ve accepted that my actions hurt the people who cared for me, including McCree. I’ve done what I can to repair my relationships with the others here, including McCree. I do not expect more than that.” Genji curls his hands into fists to ground himself, “I am at peace with my body but I know others may still find it upsetting. I will not force my affections onto someone who is unable to return those feelings.”

 

He still doesn’t know what McCree would think of his face.

 

“I’m not going to play matchmaker for you two,” says Hanzo, exasperated, “You wanted my help and I’m giving it. I can confirm that it can take a fair amount of time for a dragon to recover after healing someone it protects in this manner, there is nothing unusual there. I can confirm it has done so for McCree because there is a mutual bond it considers strong enough to consider him family.”

 

Something flutters inside his chest, “It has to be a mutual bond?”

 

“ _Yes_ ,” Hanzo groans, and he sounds so fed up, “Your dragon is living in his head now, given everything I’ve told you, if it found that he didn’t have similar feelings do you think it still would’ve saved him?”

 

Genji has nothing to say to that.

 

“When the dragon has recovered,” Hanzo continues, “And likely soon, it will return to you and McCree will change back, nothing needs to be done. Is there anything else you need to know?”

 

Genji shakes his head.

 

“Then the matter is closed,” Hanzo stands up, “Your little band of miscreants had better have something to drink that isn’t tap water.”

 

“I believe Reinhardt has a stash of German beer somewhere,” Genji says mechanically, half lost in thought, “Tell him I’m asking him to share and he’ll let you have some.”

 

“Which one is Reinhardt?”

 

“The man with the giant hammer at the gate, that’s Reinhardt.”

 

“Of course,” Hanzo sighs, and runs a hand down his face, “Then I’ll go and obtain either alcohol or death, and you can sit here and get yourself figured out.”

 

Hanzo leaves. Genji settles down and begins to meditate, has things to think about.

 

\---

 

That night, Jesse was having a perfectly normal, unremarkable dream, when reality seems to drain in and snaps him back into awareness. He is back in the desert, but this time the dragon spirit runs towards him, limping and panting.

 

“Whoa there!” he shouts, running to her, “Don’t hurt yourself!”

 

She stops abruptly, ears pricked forward, eyes wide. Afraid.

 

_“Your enemies are here!”_

 

“What?” Jesse turns around, there’s only more sand and stone behind him.

 

_“I cannot protect you like this!”_ the dragon shouts, _“You must wake! Warn your family and defend yourself!”_

 

Jesse’s eyes snap open, the abrupt change confusing him for a moment. He blinks in the dark, and hears only silence. He lifts his head and looks around, nothing seems out of place. If there were intruders Athena would have alerted them.

 

Unless -

 

Very slowly, he slips out of bed, stepping softly with barely a rustle from the sheets, and his claws don’t click against the tile floor. He limps awkwardly on three legs, only enough to shuffle around the small room. He steps softly to the door, and presses an ear to it.

 

Beyond there are hushed voices he doesn’t recognize.

 

He stumbles away from the door, already assessing the situation. There’s no other entrance or exit to this room, but he has no weapons he knows how to use. He has no idea how many there are, and most of the team would be on the other side of the base at this time of night. His prosthetic is still on the bedside table, his first priority should be getting that on.

 

No hands means he’ll need to be very careful. He walked over to the nightstand, and is able to place his hand on the table but can’t quite reach the prosthetic. He stretches his neck and tries, very carefully, to grab the leg with his mouth instead. But as he starts to lift it, one end bumps into the holopad, which slides off the table and falls to the ground with a loud clatter as plastic strikes tile.

 

The noise almost echoes in the silent room. He hears nothing from beyond the door but that doesn’t mean they didn’t hear him. Jesse twists his neck to snap the prosthetic onto his stump, the angle awkward and grip poor, losing precious seconds as he fumbles with it.

 

No gun no backup no place to hide -

 

There’s strange sounds just outside the door.

 

The prosthetic snaps on and he crouches down to one side of the door, waiting.

 

Looks like he might get that heroic last stand after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hanzo: ...and then it turns out the assassin is really my dead brother! The brother I killed!
> 
> Reinhardt: I said you could have some beer I said nothing about therapy
> 
> Hanzo: Have I mentioned that I killed my brother? Because I killed my brother


	5. Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m so tired of fighting this just take it end my suffering.
> 
> The good news is the last chapter (!!) won’t be as difficult as the last two and should be out much sooner.
> 
> As far as warnings go, it’s violence time! If you’re okay with the content in the game itself you’ll be fine here. Other warnings are themes of home invasion, and major characters suffering injuries. I’ve forgotten to mention this earlier, but if there’s anything you need me to put up warnings for please let me know!

Genji wakes when he hears a scream.

 

There’s shouting, voices he doesn’t know, each one cut off abruptly.

 

Genji leaps out of bed and grabs his swords, kept close even now, and dashes out of the room.

 

Hanzo is standing in the hallway, at his feet are three bodies in white and red body armor, arrows sticking out of the vulnerable gaps in their gear. Hanzo has his bow in hand, his hair down and dressed only in jeans and an undershirt. Other doors open down the hall, people rushing out with fists raised or improvised weapons in hand.

 

“Talon is here,” Hanzo says shaking, skin pale and his familiar stoic composure gone, “I led them here.”

 

“What?” Genji takes a step closer.

 

“I was approached by Talon, they wanted to recruit me,” Hanzo explains, looking up at his brother, “I wanted nothing to do with them but they persisted, and I knew I could not ignore them forever. I took it as a sign that you were right, that I needed to pick sides. I don’t understand, I made sure I wasn’t followed, I checked for bugs and trackers what did I miss?”

 

“We can worry about that when we are safe,” Genji says, “Now we need to defend the base.”

 

“I think Angela might still be in the medbay!” Mei says, holding a heavy book, “She hadn’t come back yet!”

 

“Brigitte might still be in the workshop,” Reinhardt says, holding a floor lamp, “She was there when I last saw her.”

 

Jesse is also still in the medbay, and Winston sleeps on other side of base. In the dorms they have Genji, Hanzo, Zenyatta, Echo, Lena, Mei, and Reinhardt. They might be cut off from the rest of the team.

 

“Hey Athena!” Lena shouts at the ceiling, “You still there? You know where all the bad guys are?”

 

No answer.

 

Genji, Hanzo, Echo, and Zenyatta are the only ones who still have their weapons: Zenyatta’s orbs and Echo’s own weapons are extensions of their bodies, Genji maintains his swords personally, and Hanzo kept his bow after he arrived, everyone else leaves their weapons in the armory for storage and maintenance. Lena still has her chronal accelerator but otherwise no one else is equipped with anything. And with Athena unresponsive they’re blind.

 

“The medbay and the workshop are on the other side of the base,” Echo says, “We’ll pass by the armory getting there.”

 

Genji dims his lights and goes ahead of the group to scout, the fastest and the only one with both armor and weapons. Lena is close behind, zipping between cover, waving the others over when she knows it’s safe. The others follow a safe distance behind, with Echo and Zenyatta bringing up the rear.

 

They cross the open area between dorms and vehicle bay, neither Genji nor Lena see any enemy soldiers, and they make it to the vehicle bay without incident. Inside it is dark and silent, the perfect place for an ambush. The entrance to the armory is on the lower floor of the vehicle bay, they are close now. Their team sticks close to the walls and stay quiet as possible.

 

“We’re almost there!” Lena whispers, and in a blue blur dashes off into the armory, the others close behind.

 

Above them Genji climbs up to the catwalk, perfectly silent. It does not take him long to find that he is not alone up there.

 

It’s a small group of Talon soldiers, kneeling, waiting in the dark. They haven’t seen him.

 

The first and second die before they realize they’ve been spotted, the third sees their comrade fall and turns to find their assailant before being cut down as well. The last soldier panics, they scream and shoot wildly, noise echoing in the large space. Genji silences them with a swing of his blade but he already hears other heavy footsteps approaching.

 

The others must hear the noise too because they forsake stealth and start to run for the armory door.

 

Reinhardt slams the door shut behind them once they’re all inside. He begins to drag chairs, tool cabinets, and anything else he can drag in front of the door to barricade it as the others scramble for their weapons and gear. There’s shouting from the other side of the door.

 

Then it goes quiet.

 

The door and the barricade bursts inward in a spray of shrapnel, a wall of ice forming quickly to stop most of the blast from reaching them but Reinhardt, closet to the blast, staggers away bloody and yelling. Zenyatta rushes over with a healing orb. As the debris clears a dark figure steps into the armory.

 

Winston had told them about Reaper, and his previous attack. This person matched his description, black coat and skull mask, two shotguns in clawed hands.

 

Genji has a feeling like he knows this person, deja vu gnawing on the back of his mind, but knows he’s never seen him before.

 

Reaper spots Hanzo, “You chose the wrong side,” he hisses.

 

Hanzo aims his bow, “I think not.”

 

“We will handle Reaper!” Genji shouts to the rest of the team, “Go and help the others!”

 

Reaper snarls, “You’re not getting away from me!”

 

Blue energy crackles down Hanzo’s arm, and with a cry fires his bow and two crackling, twisting blue dragons appear, flying towards the armory door. Reaper’s body dissolves into smoke and retreats, and they can hear the warnings shouts from the Talon soldiers outside.

 

“Go! Now!” Hanzo shouts, and the others follow the dragons out of the armory, Genji and Hanzo close behind. They spot Reaper reappearing nearby, and dash to cut him off from the rest of the group. Genji stops when he sees metal orbs zip past him to strike at Reaper, he turns to see Zenyatta floating just behind him, not fleeing with the rest of the team.

 

“Master!” Genji yells, but Zenyatta does not move.

 

“I will not leave you, my student,” Zenyatta, hands clasped in front and orbs whirring around his neck.

 

“Fine,” Reaper growls, “Then I’ll start with the brothers disappointment and the tin can.”

 

Reaper turns to Hanzo guns ready, Hanzo leaps away, careful to stay out of shotgun range.

 

They focus on keeping Reaper contained so he can’t follow and hunt down anyone else. Genji dashes in front to block his way, deflecting his gunshots. Hanzo sends arrows at Reaper, who shrugs them off, but can’t get close enough to either one to do enough harm to either to stop them.

 

Zenyatta says away from the main fight as much as possible, orbs flying at Reaper or sending healing orbs to either brother when they needs them. Reaper turns his attention to Zenyatta and as a cloud of smoke slips past Hanzo to approach the monk. Zenyatta is ready for him.

 

“Damn it,” Reaper curses, and swipes at a dark purple orb hovering by his head.

 

“In anger, you defeat only yourself,” Zenyatta says, arm outstretched.

 

“Anger is useful, you stupid bot,” Reaper snaps.

 

And Genji remembers, _“Anger is useful, Shimada, hold onto yours.”_

 

Genji recognizes him now, knows, even though it’s impossible, that Reaper is _Reyes_ -

 

Surprise made him slow.

 

Reaper turns his guns on Genji. There is a loud blast and pain, and Genji falls, the HUD in his visor flashing warnings and highlighting damaged areas of his body. He hears Hanzo shout his name over the sound of the alerts in his ear.

 

Reaper laughs, and presses the muzzle of the gun up against Genji’s helmet. When he speaks his voice is a triumphant hiss, “Time to take you off the list.”

 

There’s a distant roar and Reaper’s head snaps towards the direction of the noise in time to see Winston fly into a group of Talon soldiers above them, scattering them.

 

There’s a second, much closer roar, and Reaper staggers back away from Genji.

 

Jesse is clinging to Reaper’s back, prosthetic limb around Reaper’s neck. Jesse’s good arm is wrapped around Reaper’s head, clawing at the eyes of his mask.

 

Reaper drops his shotguns, the weapons dissolving into smoke, to reach up and grapple with Jesse, metal claws scraping against and cutting into scales. Jesse snaps at Reaper’s hands, biting at his fingers. Genji leaps to his feet, shuriken in hand, but can’t get a clear shot of Reaper with him twisting around, grappling with Jesse.

 

“Get off me, you dumb creature!” Reaper snarls, and punches Jesse in the head. Jesse’s grip slackens just enough for Reaper to tighten his grip on Jesse’s shoulders, dislodging him and throwing him to one side. Jesse goes flying, striking the floor with a pained shout. With a wave of his hands Reaper’s shotguns reform and he walks towards where Jesse fell.

 

“Jesse!” Genji shouts, wakizashi drawn and ready, running to him.

 

Reaper stops, lowers his shotguns just a fraction, staring at Jesse. Jesse staggers to his feet and growls at Reaper, tail lashing.

 

“McCree?” Reaper says, his voice almost a whisper.

 

Reaper doesn’t see Mei coming up behind him at all.

 

The cold blast hits him square in the back, frost forming on his coat already. He turns on Mei, her eyes wide with terror but keeps her blaster trailed on him, blue sparks zipping along the icy blast. Reaper moves to raise his guns but too slow and a thick layer of ice forms on his body. Mei fires an icicle into Reaper’s head and he shatters, the ice and frost dissolving into black smoke that slithers away into the dark.

 

“Genji! Jesse!” Mei says, frightened tears in her eyes, Angela still close behind with her staff still trained on Mei, “Are you two alright?”

 

Jesse looks at Genji, his snout bloody, lacerations along his sides, and breathing heavily. Genji feels a laugh bubble up, half leftover fear, half relief, “I can’t believe you did that!” he says, “You just jumped at Reaper!”

 

Jesse makes a rough barking sound, laughing too, revealing a couple of chipped teeth. Unthinking Genji reaches out and puts his hand on Jesse’s shoulder, but Jesse only seems to relax into the touch, no second guessing.

 

Hanzo is standing nearby, watching them, with a thoughtful look.

 

The Talon soldiers have been chased from the vehicle bay at least, they have a moment to collect themselves, even if it may be only a moment. The others begin to gather nearby, Angela’s attention turning to Reinhardt’s injuries. The recalled Overwatch stands together in the dark of the vehicle bay, many of them are injured but there were no fatalities on their end.

 

“What’s important is that we’re all alive,” Winston says, confident, “That means we can recover from this. We aren’t finished yet.”

 

As a unified group they sweep through the base, alert and weapons ready. Partway through Athena finishes her restart and comes back online, and confirms that there are no more Talon soldiers on base. They all breathe a collective sigh of relief, safe at last.

 

They hold an informal debrief in the medbay, Angela and Zenyatta tending to the worst of their injuries. Reinhardt is laying down, the others sitting around the room, exhaustionweighing them down, but they can’t rest just yet. Together they share their reports of what happened during the attack.

 

When Winston realized Athena had become unresponsive he’d done to check their server room, and had caught someone sneaking around inside. Turns out Athena had been blinded and muted, not put offline or destroyed. He doesn’t know if any data was stolen and he’ll need to sweep for viruses. Angela had heard a commotion in the medbay and found Jesse attacking a group of soldiers. They’d gone to get Brigitte and found Winston, and when the four were gathered they went searching for the others. That’s when they reunited with the rest of the team, and they returned to the vehicle bay to finish Reaper and the soldiers there.

 

They’ll likely need to move their operation now, and double check for security vulnerabilities as they do. They cannot have an attack like this again.

 

“They may have tracked me to this place,” Hanzo says stiffly, “I should not have come here. I do not want to risk creating an unnecessary weakness in your organization.”

 

“Absolutely not,” Winston says, “You were instrumental in defending the Watchpoint and alerting your team to danger. If you feel so strongly you that must leave we won’t stop you, but please don’t feel that you must go because of what happened. We are strongest united.”

 

Hanzo is quiet at that.

 

In the silence that follows, Genji decides to speak up, “I know who Reaper is. It’s Gabriel Reyes, I don’t know how he’s alive but it’s him.”

 

“IT IS REYES FIGHTS THE SAME AS HE DID,” Jesse types on the holopad.

 

“Sounds impossible... but would explain why Talon knows so much about Overwatch’s inner workings,” Winston says, contemplative, “We’ll have to find a way to compensate for that.”

 

Genji sits close to Jesse, with Hanzo sitting at his other side. Experimentally, he places a hand on Jesse’s neck. Jesse looks up at him briefly, then turns his attention back to the discussion at hand, unbothered by the touch. Maybe even okay with it.

 

It reminds him of one of Zenyatta’s lessons, which he seemed to have forgotten: The past cannot be changed and there are no guarantees in the future. You only ever have the present, what is right in front of you, now.

 

They’ll need to relocate soon, and figure out what to do now that they know who Reaper is, but those are problems for another time. Right now, he’ll give Jesse and himself some time to rest after the attack, then Genji has important things to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reaper: I am death, the bringer of death, an angel of death, death death death
> 
> Reaper: (Hasn’t managed to kill anyone at all ever)


	6. Voice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s official, I’ve finished this fic! This is the first multi-chapter thing I’ve finished in years. While there’s definitely things I could’ve done better, overall I’m pretty proud of it!
> 
> Quick shameless self promo: I’m already working on my next multi-part fic. It won’t be McGenji focused, it’ll be an ensemble cast and the plot won’t revolve around any pairings, but there will be a little McGenji in there, if that still sparks your interest. If you want a hint for what it’s about, [here you go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPTCq3LiZSE).
> 
> Special thanks to everyone for the kudos, bookmarks, and especially those who left comments. Hope the ending is meets all your expectations. Assuming what you expect is the sappiest, softest romantic nonsense.

Genji stares at the door to Jesse’s medbay room. He’s nervous but he’s already resolved to do this. He needs to.

 

Inhale in through his nose, hold, exhale though his mouth. Repeat. He can do this.

 

Inside, Jesse is curled up on his bed watching something on the holopad, but looks up as Genji enters the room. He pauses the holovid and pulls up the text-to-speech app.

 

“HEY,” Jesse types.

 

“I need to talk to you,” Genji says, diving right in, “Would you be willing to go back with me to my room? It will be a little more private.” Jesse makes a quiet, worried sound, “It is nothing bad,” Genji adds quickly, “Just... personal.”

 

Jesse pauses, and then nods. Genji grabs the holopad for him, and they leave the medbay.

 

They settle down in the privacy of Genji’s room. Jesse hops onto the bed and lays down, curling up and making himself comfortable. Genji grabs a chair from the desk and sits down next to him, placing the holopad in front of him. Jesse doesn’t type or do anything, looking at Genji, waiting.

 

“There is something I need to discuss with you,” Genji begins, “About why my dragon saved you.”

 

Genji braces himself, he can do this. He needs to.

 

“I’ve spoken with Hanzo, he knows more about our family’s history and our dragons than I do. He has... told me a lot. First, there is something I need to show you.”

 

His shaking hands reach up and touches releases and hidden latches. First he removes his visor, then the faceplate, then the rest of his helmet. At least, what he can remove, and is not attached to life support.

 

Genji knows what he looks like, and though he had made peace with it he knows others might still find it ugly. Plastic tubing wraps around his face and up a reconstructed nose so he can breathe. A scar splits open his top lip lip revealing false teeth. Dark synthetic skin and metal instead of a jaw. The right half of his face is covered with burn scars. His hair has been shaved so his helmet will fit, and it reveals the metal plates on the back of his neck, the obsolete ports.

 

He cannot go without at least the faceplate for long periods of time, and cannot go without it at all for anything strenuous. For too long he didn’t want to. For too long it was a painful reminder of what he lost, and what he became.

 

“This is who I am,” he says, “It has taken me a long, long time to make peace with who I have become. I have never shown you this, and no one beyond Angela, her nurses, and Zenyatta has seen me like this. I wanted you to know, otherwise I feel that I would be deceiving you.”

 

Jesse makes a distressed sound and Genji feels a bitter stab of disappointment, “I am sorry,” he says, looking down at his knees, “I worried you might find it upsetting - ”

 

Jesse whines again, interrupting. He stands up on his front legs and leans in closer, mouth slightly open, as if about to speak but can’t find the words. He’s looking right into Genji’s eyes, searching.

 

Jesse pulls away and ducks his head, quickly grabbing the holopad, “NOT UPSET MISSED SEEING YOUR EYES,” Jesse types.

 

Genji smiles weakly, “Of course you did.”

 

Now, to the heart of the matter.

 

“The attack reminded us all that our lives are dangerous, and we could die at any time,” Genji continues, “I know that if I were to pass there are things I would regret never telling you. Hanzo confirmed something I’ve suspected for some time. The dragons’ protection extends only to my family. This means people like myself and Hanzo and others of our bloodline, but it does also include...” Genji’s breath catches, “Includes those we fall in love with.”

 

Jesse’s eyes widen.

 

“Hanzo said that the feeling must be mutual for a dragon to accept someone else as family,” Genji continues talking, if he stops now he’ll never get the words out, “I do not want to assume to know your true feelings. Our relationship has always been... unsteady, and we have not seen each other for some years before recall. I did not want to force something on you which you were not willing to return.”

 

Jesse raises a finger as if to type, then stops. He sits up, places his good paw on Genji’s hand, and tugs gently.

 

Genji follows, and when he’s sitting on the bed next to him Jesse moves in close, tail wraps around his hips, front legs on his chest, snout tucked in close to his neck.

 

Then slowly, gently, he brushes the tip of his snout against Genji’s cheek, careful of the cannula, and presses his lips to the scarred skin. An imperfect kiss, a better answer than a mechanical voice could ever say.

 

Genji wraps his arms around Jesse and buries his face in warm scales. Something comes undone inside him, and what composure he has left drowns in the wave of relief.

 

“I was afraid,” Genji murmurs, a slight crack in his voice, “That I drove you away and you would not feel the same.”

 

Jesse wriggles in his arms, not quite moving away. Genji realizes he’s trying to reach for the holopad without pulling away. Genji laughs, and reaches over and puts the holopad next to his lap, so Jesse can stay close, draped across Genji, and still type.

 

“FUNNY I THOUGHT THE SAME THING,” Jesse types.

 

“We didn’t understand each other at all, did we?” Genji says, “I think we can do better this time. We know ourselves better, we will do better.”

 

Jesse nods in agreement, and tries to move in closer. They’re quiet, treasuring this moment when they can be soft and safe and sure.

 

They sit together for some time, how long Genji isn’t sure. Jesse moves away first, shifting away and stretching his back with a grunt, he must have been getting uncomfortable wrapped around Genji that way.

 

“I can take you back to the medbay when you’re ready,” Genji says.

 

“I WANT TO STAY,” Jesse types, making no move to get off the bed.

 

“You might upset Angela if you disappear on her,” Genji says.

 

“I HAVE A CHAPERONE IT’S FINE,” Jesse types, and sticks out a forked tongue for emphasis.

 

“Athena,” Genji says to the air, “Could you please let Dr. Zielger know that Jesse will be staying with me for now? I would not want her to worry.”

 

 _“I have informed Dr. Ziegler,”_ Athena says, _“And she has asked that I alert her if her help is needed.”_

 

“It looked like you were watching something before I talked to you,” Genji says to Jesse, stretching his legs out on the bed, “What was it?”

 

“FOUR GUN KILLER THERE’S A SEQUEL COMING OUT SOON WANTED TO REWATCH THE ORIGINAL,” Jesse types.

 

He’s only vaguely aware of what the movie is about, but he knows the most important element, “You, watching a cowboy movie?” Genji says, “That is the least surprising thing I’ve ever heard.”

 

“BUT YOU LOVE ME ANYWAY,” Jesse types, with an unmistakably smug look. Something about hearing it spoken so casually feels natural.

 

“I guess I do,” Genji says, “Doesn’t mean I love your taste in movies.” He does like Jesse’s taste in movies, even used to watch some with him in Blackwatch to pass the time. Doesn’t mean he won’t give him a hard time.

 

Jesse huffs, “I’LL START OVER AND YOU’LL SEE.”

 

Genji stays with Jesse through the rest of the day. He’s neglecting his duties, but he’ll allow himself this for now. Tomorrow he’ll go back to being an agent of Overwatch, for now they’ll nurture this thing they’re building.

 

He leaves the faceplate off, which he’s sure Angela would scold him for. It’s been so long since he’s gone without it, he’s enjoying the air on his face. Also Jesse sometimes sneaks more small kisses, the romantic sap he is, which Genji quite enjoys.

 

When night comes Genji begins to remove armor plates, which he usually doesn’t bother with it, but since Jesse hasn’t moved off the bed he figures he’s staying the night, and doesn’t want to poke the cowboy with hard armor plates. He’s vulnerable with someone else like he hasn’t been in a long time, and he’s surprised with how comfortable he is with that. When the two of them get into bed Jesse presses up against Genji’s side, and presses his nose into Genji’s neck. The smooth scales are warm against Genji’s skin, and he wraps his trail around Genji’s legs.

 

Genji tilts his head and presses a soft kiss to Jesse’s snout, “Good night.”

 

Jesse hums, and settles in a little closer. Sleep comes easy, peaceful and quiet.

 

\---

 

Genji dreams of Nepal.

 

He’s standing in the temple’s front courtyard, under a starlit sky.

 

And there is the dragon spirit, radiant and proud, waiting for him.

 

 _“Our beloved is safe,”_ she says, confident and serene, _“And all is well.”_

 

He eases into peaceful, dreamless sleep.

 

\---

 

Genji’s mouth, nose, and throat have dried out, itchy and unpleasant. That’s what he gets for sleeping without his faceplate on.

 

He shifts and stretches, the muscles in his flesh arm stiff. He opens his eyes, and sees only wrinkled blankets beside him.

 

He is alone.

 

Genji’s heart sinks, a heavy weight in his chest. Maybe Angela asked Jesse to return to the medbay. His disappearance doesn’t necessarily mean Jesse’s changed his mind, but Genji is disappointed all the same.

 

Genji sits up straight, and retrieves his faceplate, snapping it into place and his breathing becomes easier as the humidity control kicks in. He won’t bother with the rest of his helmet just yet. He closes his eyes and concentrates on his breathing, his morning meditation should calm him down. Except then he spots something out of the corner of his eye.

 

It’s Jesse’s prosthetic, abandoned on the floor. Next to it is a discarded horn, the base dark with dried blood.

 

“Jesse?” Genji calls, alarmed.

 

“In here!” answers a voice from behind the bathroom door, “I ain’t decent!”

 

Genji bolts out of bed the bathroom door is ajar and he nearly tears it off its hinges -

 

Jesse is sitting in the shower stall, himself again and buck naked except for the serape still wrapped around his shoulders. He’s surrounded by large patches of shed skin, their color faded and dried out. Genji sees the severed, shriveled remains of a tail, the other horn, and nearly transparent claws littering the tile floor. Jesse had been trying to pull off a patch of dead scales from between his fingers with his teeth. Jesse stops when he spots Genji standing in the doorway. He spits it out and looks embarrassed.

 

He doesn’t seem to be in pain. Genji walks in and kneels down next to him, ignoring the debris, “You are not hurt?”

 

Jesse shakes his head, “No, didn’t feel so great, but I think the worst is over.”

 

Genji reaches out a tentative hand, and touches Jesse’s face, as if unsure he’s really there. Jesse reaches up and places his hand over Genji’s, no hesitation or doubt.

 

Jesse startles.

 

“Is your dragon alright?” Jesse asks in a rush, “If I’m me again that means she’s with you now, right?”

 

Genji hadn’t even realized anything was different, that the void he’d been feeling the past week was gone, the emptiness filled.

 

“Yes,” Genji says softly, “She has returned.”

 

Jesse smiles, revealing teeth that are still chipped.

 

“Oh,” Genji tries to suppress a laugh, “Your teeth!”

 

Jesse runs a tongue over his teeth, frowns when he feels the broken ones, “Surprised it took this long,” he says with the shrug.

 

“Maybe no more biting body armor,” Genji says.

 

“Good call,” Jesse says, feeling a broken tooth with the tip of a finger, “There’s one thing I know I can still do,” he adds, with a mischievous grin.

 

Jesse leans in close and kisses across Genji’s faceplate, and he can’t feel it through the metal but leans into it all the same. Jesse wraps his arm around Genji’s shoulders, and he leans into and returns the hug.

 

Genji feels dragon’s contentment under his skin, and in his heart.

 

\---

 

Jesse waits until Genji returns with a set of clothes and his prosthetic arm from his room. He doesn’t think he’s ever enjoyed getting dressed so much. He hadn’t realized how much he missed wearing pants.

 

Genji also brought him a cigar and his lighter, and Jesse almost wept. He missed his smokes more than pants.

 

“Do not smoke in here,” Genji says sternly, as soon as Jesse takes back his lighter, “My respiratory system is delicate, take it outside.”

 

So enjoys his smoke while they go to find the rest of the team. Athena has already told them where to find them, and are in no rush to get there. They both agreed to keep their new relationship to themselves for now, wait until they’ve settled into their new truth.

 

“Although Hanzo did figure it out before I did,” Genji points out, “He was the one who knew who the dragons save.”

 

“Well that explains the looks he was giving me,” Jesse says, wryly.

 

The rest of the team is in one of the large conference rooms, sitting around a circular table, maps and documents laid out across the surface and projected above them. Planning to move their base and inspecting their security.

 

“Jesse!” Lena shouts, the first to spot them, “You’re you again!”

 

Everyone else turns to look and sees Jesse and Genji. Then they all rushes them, shouting. Lena reaches them first and jumps at Jesse and traps him in a rib-breaking hug. Angela berates him for not alerting her that he’s changed back, and he assures her that he wasn’t hurt. Reinhardt claps him on the back and nearly breaks his spine. He receives much tamer greetings from the rest.

 

Hanzo is standing a little ways out from the rest of the team, awkward. Jesse decides now is a good time to make a real first impression.

 

“Howdy,” Jesse says, walking up to Hanzo and extending a hand, “Time to introduce myself proper: name’s Jesse McCree.”

 

“Oh,” Hanzo says, taking in the boots, the belt buckle, the serape, the hat, “It’s worse than I thought.”

 

“Aw, don’t be like that,” Jesse says, “Give it time, I’m sure I’ll grow on you.”

 

Hanzo has a look of mild horror.

 

“It’s good to see you up and about again,” Winston says, cheerfully, “Actually, we could use your input about now. We could use your knowledge of Blackwatch’s resources.”

 

Duty calls, so they join the rest of Overwatch at the conference table, and begin to make plans.

 

Their work was not yet done, and the future is uncertain, but none of them will be alone.

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm on Twitter](https://twitter.com/AnxietyElementl) go yell at me


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